American Forces Press Service
June 21, 2007 – A series of anti-insurgent operations conducted across Iraq by U.S. and Iraqi troops in recent days has resulted in the killing or capture of scores of terrorists and the seizure of copious amounts of enemy ordnance, U.S. military officials reported. Operation Commando Eagle, a joint operation geared toward curbing terrorist activity southwest of Baghdad, began today and is producing immediate results, officials said.
Commando Eagle features a mix of helicopter-borne air assaults and Humvee-mounted movements, included soldiers from several battalions of the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division. The operation targeted a series of houses that local citizens indicated were being used by al Qaeda cells to intimidate them and launch attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces, officials said.
Troops of the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, detained three men when their truck was found to contain documents requesting rockets as well as a spool of copper wire, commonly used to build improvised explosive devices. Iraqi soldiers found a cache containing four AK-47s, a 60 mm mortar tube with three rounds, an SKS rifle rigged with sniper optics, three bolt-action rifles, a camcorder with tapes, a roll of copper wire, 20 homemade grenades, four ski masks, 75 compact discs of propaganda, as well as instruction on how to commit kidnappings, shoot down coalition helicopters, and use IED-making materials.
Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, discovered multiple series of caches during Commando Eagle. The first cache complex contained five AK-47s with three magazines, a roll of IED wire and a shotgun. A second cache included seven AK-47s. The third complex included an anti-tank mine, an anti-personnel mine, two rocket-propelled grenade rounds, an RPG launcher and multiple pounds of TNT.
Meanwhile, Task Force 2-15 detained 16 individuals. Company A, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, detained nine men and Troop B, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment detained four, all wanted for terrorist attacks or for possessing illegal weapons.
The caches were seized and disposed of. The individuals are being held for questioning. Commando Eagle was named after the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, known as the Commandos, and the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, called the Baghdad Eagles.
In other operations, coalition forces detained 11 suspected terrorists today and yesterday during operations targeting al Qaeda in Iraq.
Today, coalition forces raided five buildings east of Karmah, searching for an al Qaeda in Iraq emir suspected of attacks against U.S. forces and Iraqi infrastructure. The ground force captured three suspected terrorists, including an alleged subordinate of the al Qaeda emir. East of Fallujah, a raid targeting associates of al Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders netted four suspected terrorists.
Also today, north of Baghdad, American troops detained two suspected terrorists for their association with a key member of the al Qaeda in Iraq network linked to several terrorist groups and vehicle-bomb attacks.
"Each operation we conduct provides additional information about the best way for us to attack al Qaeda and strike their networks," said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. "It's getting more difficult for them to hide."
Coalition troops also conducted two operations in Mosul yesterday that targeted al Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders. Two suspects were detained for alleged involvement with a Kurdish extremist in the al Qaeda network and a terrorist emir of western Mosul.
Also today, U.S troops continue to press al Qaeda operatives as part of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, being conducted in and around Baqubah in Diyala province, officials reported.
Since Operation Arrowhead Ripper began June 19, at least 41 insurgents have been killed, five weapons caches have been discovered, 25 improvised explosive devices have been destroyed and five booby-trapped houses have been discovered and destroyed.
"Our combined forces have begun destroying al Qaeda operatives and their resources in and around Diyala province," said Army Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, deputy commanding general for operations, Task Force Lightning and Multinational Division North. "The citizens of Diyala have already voiced their desires to rid this province and the country of al Qaeda and all those that wish to disrupt its progress."
Today, groups of Baqubah citizens stepped forward to provide valuable information on al Qaeda in the city. During overnight operations, Task Force Lightning engaged and killed at least 11 al Qaeda operatives while destroying three enemy safe houses with precision-guided munitions, and destroting a cache of 60 mm improvised explosive devices and six buried IEDs.
Ground forces also found a house booby-trapped with improvised explosive devices in the Khatoon neighborhood near Baqubah. The building was destroyed with a rocket from an air support helicopter. In another incident, soldiers from 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, observed four armed individuals digging on the side of the road and emplacing IEDs. Coalition-force air support engaged and killed all four terrorists.
"Our joint efforts, along with the citizens of Diyala, will continue to back these al Qaeda terrorists into a corner until they have no choice but end their attempts," said Bednarek. Some al Qaeda operatives have been captured or killed attempting to escape the city, as evidenced by six uninjured adult males caught attempting to evade a checkpoint in an Iraqi ambulance June 19.
Providing key support throughout the operation were helicopters from the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade. Aircraft from 3rd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, have worked throughout the mission to move soldiers and equipment throughout Baqouba and the surrounding area. Providing air fire support were attack helicopters from the 1st Squadron, 82nd Air Reconnaissance Battalion.
Also today, Task Force Marne began its sixth day of offensive operations to clear extremist sanctuaries in the Arab Jabour area southeast of Baghdad. To date, Marne Torch and Iraqi Army units have detained more than five dozen suspected extremists and destroyed more than 17 boats on the Tigris River that are responsible for transporting accelerants into Baghdad.
Ground and air forces disrupted insurgent operations by capturing, seizing, and clearing caches that support instability in the area. American forces killed five insurgents, discovered and destroyed 12 improvised explosive devices, and detained 13 wanted individuals.
More than 2,500 U.S. and Iraqi military forces are participating in Marne Torch, an operation named for the historic British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II that took place in 1942. Members of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, continue to clear the area north of the Arab Jabour area and restrict movement of insurgents and bomb-making material into the area.
On June 19, a sizable enemy weapons cache was found in the Jisr Diyala area. The cache yielded 54 mortar rounds, two artillery rounds, 29 cell phones, 29 nine-volt battery connectors and more than 20 circuit boards - all commonly used in the manufacturing of improvised explosive devices. A total of 17 caches found throughout the Arab Jabour and Salman Pak area.
Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, continue to clear houses and set-up checkpoints around Arab Jabour to stop the flow of accelerants in and out of Baghdad. There have been 237 houses cleared since the start of Marne Torch.
In other Iraq news, U.S. soldiers with the 2nd Infantry Division's 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and the 1st Iraqi Army Division's 4th Brigade, recovered a weapons cache in eastern Baghdad yesterday. Responding to a tip, members of the U.S. 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery, and Iraqi soldiers found five 107 mm rockets, three fuses and 23 rocket stands. Some of the rockets had been prepped for launch. The rockets were destroyed in place by an explosive ordnance disposal team.
"The find highlights the joint effort between U.S. and Iraqi forces to root out insurgents and clamp down on sectarian violence," said Army Maj. Sean Ryan, a spokesman for the brigade.
In another Baghdad operation conducted yesterday U.S. soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, positively identified two individuals placing an initiator at the end of a command wire on an IED. The U.S. soldiers opened fire, killing one insurgent and wounding another.
Later in the day, U.S. soldiers with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment discovered a 100-pound bag of homemade explosives with wires, and improvised rocket launchers.
Also yesterday, Iraqi special operations forces detained a key insurgent leader during an operation conducted in Baghdad's Sadr City sector. The detainee is allegedly responsible for coordinating and conducting kidnappings, death squad killings and improvised explosive device attacks against innocent civilians and Iraqi and coalition forces. The Iraqi forces also detained two other suspicious individuals.
In other Iraq news, coalition forces were engaging a booby-trapped house yesterday in the Khatoon area of Diyala province, when another structure was accidentally hit by an air-dropped bomb.
Soldiers from 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division were patrolling the Khatoon area when they discovered the bomb-rigged house. The soldiers cleared the area and attempted to destroy the house with a bomb. The bomb missed its intended target and struck another structure, away from the targeted house. Upon notification, the Joint Communications Center in Diyala, Iraq, immediately dispatched emergency medical services to the site of the accident. Reports indicate that 11 civilians were injured.
The originally targeted house was later engaged with a Hellfire missile, producing a large secondary explosion confirming the house as containing a large amount of explosives. The incident is under investigation.
In other Iraq news, five Iraqis were killed and six injured June 19 when a 122 mm rocket struck a building in the Al Mansour district of Baghdad. Both Iraqi and U.S. military forces responded to the scene of the attack. U.S. officials confirmed that the rocket was fired from north of the city, about 10 miles away. The 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, was the first American unit to arrive at the attack site.
Meanwhile, Iraqi forces broke up a suspected terrorist sniper cell in the Bayji area of northern Iraq on June 19. The Iraqi troops detained five individuals for further questioning. The Iraqis confiscated a sniper rifle, three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9mm pistol, associated ammunition as well as bomb-making materials.
Also, U.S. soldiers treated a sick Iraqi child in southern Baghdad June 19. Faisal, a 2-year-old boy living in Baghdad's Rashid district, was unresponsive with labored breathing when his mother brought him to a temporary checkpoint manned by soldiers from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment "Tomahawks."
Faisal was taken to Forward Operating Base Falcon, where members of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division medical staff were able to treat and stabilize him for further treatment at the U.S. military Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad's International Zone.
"He was a pretty sick kid," said Army medic Sgt. Tracey Lyons, who helped treat Faisal, who is expected to recover.
Army Capt. Wesley Theurer, a military physician, praised military care providers for reacting so quickly.
"The team did a real good job," Theurer said. "Everyone was concerned. To see someone so young in that kind of condition was something that pulled us all together."
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
Showing posts with label operation marne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label operation marne. Show all posts
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Combined Forces Capture Terrorists, Discover Weapons
American Forces Press Service
June 20, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi forces continued security operations throughout Iraq the past few days, killing about 37 extremists, capturing more than 100, and discovering numerous weapons caches, military officials reported. Four insurgents have been killed and 62 detained at the start of Operation Marne Torch's fourth day today in southeastern Baghdad.
Ten caches have been seized, 17 boats destroyed, and five improvised explosive devices have been found.
The operation's purpose is to clear insurgents from safe havens. Phase 1 of Marne Torch began in mid-May and focused on intelligence gathering and shaping the conditions for offensive operations.
Marne Torch is named for the historic 1942 British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II. Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division fought alongside British comrades, and gave the Allies substantial beachheads in North Africa.
Task Force Lightning continued its offensive operation in and around the capital of Diyala province today as part of a powerful crackdown on al Qaeda terrorists operating in the area.
U.S. and Iraqi combined forces engaged and killed at least 30 al Qaeda operatives, and discovered four IEDs emplaced in houses and 10 buried IEDs during the first full day of Operation Arrowhead Ripper.
"These criminals will know no safe place to hide in Diyala," said Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, deputy commanding general for operations, Task Force Lightning and Multinational Division North. "The people of Diyala are tired of the terror and violence these al Qaeda thugs have brought to their province and are cooperating with us in order to root them out."
As the soldiers moved through Baqubah and the surrounding areas, they discovered at least two weapons caches containing assault weapons, grenades, rocket launchers, large- and small-caliber ammunition and explosives. Ground forces also coordinated a precision guided munitions strike to destroy a known al Qaeda weapons cache located inside a safe house, and reported a large secondary explosion due to the munitions the terrorists stored inside.
In another incident, soldiers from Alpha Troop, 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, observed and engaged armed individuals emplacing an IED near Zaganiyah village, along the Diyala River valley.
The gunmen returned fire, but the soldiers, using direct and indirect fire, killed both of the armed IED emplacers.
About 10,000 soldiers throughout Diyala province are participating in and supporting Operation Arrowhead Ripper, which was launched by Task Force Lightning to eliminate al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists. Included in this operation are more than 1,000 Iraqi army soldiers and a comparable number of Iraqi police.
In other operations, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers discovered and destroyed an explosively-formed penetrator factory and suspected torture house in southern Baghdad yesterday. EFPs are an advanced form of IED capable of penetrating armor.
While searching abandoned buildings in the western Rashid district, soldiers of Company A, 1st Battalion 38th Infantry Regiment, found six EFPs, 24 sticks of C4 plastic explosive, a pipe bomb and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
A house nearby was also searched, and soldiers found an 105 mm artillery round with a satchel charge attached and duct tape coated with blood and hair. After inspecting the houses, soldiers found materials believed to aid in camouflaging roadside bombs.
An explosive ordnance disposal unit arrived on the scene and detonated the cache. However, the resulting explosion was larger than expected and collapsed a nearby home. Soldiers searched the rubble for any possible trapped civilians. One female civilian was found dead.
"Our deepest sympathies are with the family of the deceased," said Army Maj. Kirk Luedeke, spokesperson and public affairs officer for the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. "This unfortunate event is something we are investigating and will take precautionary measures to prevent from happening again."
Earlier in the day, coalition aircraft dropped six bombs on the palm grove along the Tigris River in the eastern portion of the Rashid district, targeting an infiltration route and possible cache storage site for al Qaeda operating in an area that has been used to conduct indirect fire attacks against the International Zone and coalition outposts.
In other developments, a suicide truck bomb detonated in Baghdad's Rusafa district yesterday, killing 35 Iraqis and wounding 65 others.
The device detonated at about 2:15 p.m. near the Al Husan Bin Ali Mosque in Rusafa's Jumhuriyah neighborhood. Reports indicate the truck was filled with propane tanks, and that the driver attempted to jump the curb near the mosque median and subsequently got stuck.
The driver then detonated the truck's explosive payload. The blast caused damage to the southeastern outer wall of the mosque.
Coalition forces were in the area and responded immediately following the blast. The more seriously wounded were transported to a local hospital for treatment; the less seriously wounded were treated by U.S. and Iraqi security forces at the scene. Iraqi firefighters arrived to battle the fire, which erupted from the blast site and had spread through the street.
Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachutist Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, along with the 118th Military Police Company and Iraqi security forces, responded to the blasts and sealed off the areas.
Coalition forces confirmed casualty figures with officials at the local hospital. The attack is under investigation.
Elsewhere, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers captured a suspected member of an alleged bomb-making cell in Sab al Bor, Iraq, yesterday.
Soldiers from Battery C, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, captured the suspect using information from intelligence sources. In all, the unit detained 14 suspects for questioning during the operation.
The raid was part of a large-scale, sector-wide initiative to eliminate threats to coalition and Iraqi security forces, and to curb violence in the area north of the Iraqi capital.
In an attempt to rescue severely injured Iraqi police forces, Iraqi security forces battled extremists, killing more than three and detaining 45 in Nasiriyah June 18 and yesterday.
With coalition forces present as advisors, Iraqi security forces rushed to a neighborhood in Nasiriyah to recover wounded personnel from an earlier firefight.
As they arrived to the police checkpoint, Iraqi and coalition forces received enemy fire from multiple directions. With well-aimed fire, Iraqi forces killed more than three insurgents, one of whom is a suspected highly ranked rogue militia commander.
Throughout the operation, extremists fired on Iraqi and coalition forces from a rooftop across the street. Coalition forces called for an air strike and suppressed the extremists. No local Iraqi civilians were injured during the air strike.
During the operation, Iraqi security forces received hostile fire and suffered 30 casualties.
In other developments, coalition and Iraqi security forces conducted a cordon-and-search operation in the Adhamiyah district June 18, resulting in the capture of three suspects caught with materials used in the manufacture of car bombs. A fourth suspect was also detained during the operation. "Operation Castine" was conducted by soldiers from the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, and soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division.
The operation began before sunrise, when U.S. and Iraqi forces made a tactical foot movement from Coalition Outpost Apache into the Safina neighborhood of Adhamiyah. For the next five hours, soldiers moved up and down the narrow city streets, searching hundreds of homes looking for illegal weapons and other contraband.
In other news, Iraqi national police repelled an attack on their outpost by unknown gunmen in Samarra June 18.
More than 2,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen moved into Samarra to provide additional security for its citizens following the recent attack on the Askira Mosque June 13.
Iraqi police were occupying and conducting patrols about two miles from the Askira Mosque when gunmen attacked with small-arms fire and a suicide car bomb. The police defended their outpost, returning fire from a nearby checkpoint and repelling the attack with minimal casualties.
"This demonstrates total lack of respect for the Askira Mosque in light of its recent attack," said Col. Bryan Owens, commander, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. "The policemen injured were dedicated to protecting the mosque from any future attacks."
The car bomb damaged the outside of a school and other buildings in the immediate area. There was no damage to the Askira Mosque.
Two Iraqi policemen injured in the attack were transported to a coalition forces' medical facility for treatment.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
June 20, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi forces continued security operations throughout Iraq the past few days, killing about 37 extremists, capturing more than 100, and discovering numerous weapons caches, military officials reported. Four insurgents have been killed and 62 detained at the start of Operation Marne Torch's fourth day today in southeastern Baghdad.
Ten caches have been seized, 17 boats destroyed, and five improvised explosive devices have been found.
The operation's purpose is to clear insurgents from safe havens. Phase 1 of Marne Torch began in mid-May and focused on intelligence gathering and shaping the conditions for offensive operations.
Marne Torch is named for the historic 1942 British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II. Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division fought alongside British comrades, and gave the Allies substantial beachheads in North Africa.
Task Force Lightning continued its offensive operation in and around the capital of Diyala province today as part of a powerful crackdown on al Qaeda terrorists operating in the area.
U.S. and Iraqi combined forces engaged and killed at least 30 al Qaeda operatives, and discovered four IEDs emplaced in houses and 10 buried IEDs during the first full day of Operation Arrowhead Ripper.
"These criminals will know no safe place to hide in Diyala," said Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, deputy commanding general for operations, Task Force Lightning and Multinational Division North. "The people of Diyala are tired of the terror and violence these al Qaeda thugs have brought to their province and are cooperating with us in order to root them out."
As the soldiers moved through Baqubah and the surrounding areas, they discovered at least two weapons caches containing assault weapons, grenades, rocket launchers, large- and small-caliber ammunition and explosives. Ground forces also coordinated a precision guided munitions strike to destroy a known al Qaeda weapons cache located inside a safe house, and reported a large secondary explosion due to the munitions the terrorists stored inside.
In another incident, soldiers from Alpha Troop, 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, observed and engaged armed individuals emplacing an IED near Zaganiyah village, along the Diyala River valley.
The gunmen returned fire, but the soldiers, using direct and indirect fire, killed both of the armed IED emplacers.
About 10,000 soldiers throughout Diyala province are participating in and supporting Operation Arrowhead Ripper, which was launched by Task Force Lightning to eliminate al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists. Included in this operation are more than 1,000 Iraqi army soldiers and a comparable number of Iraqi police.
In other operations, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers discovered and destroyed an explosively-formed penetrator factory and suspected torture house in southern Baghdad yesterday. EFPs are an advanced form of IED capable of penetrating armor.
While searching abandoned buildings in the western Rashid district, soldiers of Company A, 1st Battalion 38th Infantry Regiment, found six EFPs, 24 sticks of C4 plastic explosive, a pipe bomb and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
A house nearby was also searched, and soldiers found an 105 mm artillery round with a satchel charge attached and duct tape coated with blood and hair. After inspecting the houses, soldiers found materials believed to aid in camouflaging roadside bombs.
An explosive ordnance disposal unit arrived on the scene and detonated the cache. However, the resulting explosion was larger than expected and collapsed a nearby home. Soldiers searched the rubble for any possible trapped civilians. One female civilian was found dead.
"Our deepest sympathies are with the family of the deceased," said Army Maj. Kirk Luedeke, spokesperson and public affairs officer for the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. "This unfortunate event is something we are investigating and will take precautionary measures to prevent from happening again."
Earlier in the day, coalition aircraft dropped six bombs on the palm grove along the Tigris River in the eastern portion of the Rashid district, targeting an infiltration route and possible cache storage site for al Qaeda operating in an area that has been used to conduct indirect fire attacks against the International Zone and coalition outposts.
In other developments, a suicide truck bomb detonated in Baghdad's Rusafa district yesterday, killing 35 Iraqis and wounding 65 others.
The device detonated at about 2:15 p.m. near the Al Husan Bin Ali Mosque in Rusafa's Jumhuriyah neighborhood. Reports indicate the truck was filled with propane tanks, and that the driver attempted to jump the curb near the mosque median and subsequently got stuck.
The driver then detonated the truck's explosive payload. The blast caused damage to the southeastern outer wall of the mosque.
Coalition forces were in the area and responded immediately following the blast. The more seriously wounded were transported to a local hospital for treatment; the less seriously wounded were treated by U.S. and Iraqi security forces at the scene. Iraqi firefighters arrived to battle the fire, which erupted from the blast site and had spread through the street.
Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachutist Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, along with the 118th Military Police Company and Iraqi security forces, responded to the blasts and sealed off the areas.
Coalition forces confirmed casualty figures with officials at the local hospital. The attack is under investigation.
Elsewhere, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers captured a suspected member of an alleged bomb-making cell in Sab al Bor, Iraq, yesterday.
Soldiers from Battery C, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, captured the suspect using information from intelligence sources. In all, the unit detained 14 suspects for questioning during the operation.
The raid was part of a large-scale, sector-wide initiative to eliminate threats to coalition and Iraqi security forces, and to curb violence in the area north of the Iraqi capital.
In an attempt to rescue severely injured Iraqi police forces, Iraqi security forces battled extremists, killing more than three and detaining 45 in Nasiriyah June 18 and yesterday.
With coalition forces present as advisors, Iraqi security forces rushed to a neighborhood in Nasiriyah to recover wounded personnel from an earlier firefight.
As they arrived to the police checkpoint, Iraqi and coalition forces received enemy fire from multiple directions. With well-aimed fire, Iraqi forces killed more than three insurgents, one of whom is a suspected highly ranked rogue militia commander.
Throughout the operation, extremists fired on Iraqi and coalition forces from a rooftop across the street. Coalition forces called for an air strike and suppressed the extremists. No local Iraqi civilians were injured during the air strike.
During the operation, Iraqi security forces received hostile fire and suffered 30 casualties.
In other developments, coalition and Iraqi security forces conducted a cordon-and-search operation in the Adhamiyah district June 18, resulting in the capture of three suspects caught with materials used in the manufacture of car bombs. A fourth suspect was also detained during the operation. "Operation Castine" was conducted by soldiers from the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, and soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division.
The operation began before sunrise, when U.S. and Iraqi forces made a tactical foot movement from Coalition Outpost Apache into the Safina neighborhood of Adhamiyah. For the next five hours, soldiers moved up and down the narrow city streets, searching hundreds of homes looking for illegal weapons and other contraband.
In other news, Iraqi national police repelled an attack on their outpost by unknown gunmen in Samarra June 18.
More than 2,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen moved into Samarra to provide additional security for its citizens following the recent attack on the Askira Mosque June 13.
Iraqi police were occupying and conducting patrols about two miles from the Askira Mosque when gunmen attacked with small-arms fire and a suicide car bomb. The police defended their outpost, returning fire from a nearby checkpoint and repelling the attack with minimal casualties.
"This demonstrates total lack of respect for the Askira Mosque in light of its recent attack," said Col. Bryan Owens, commander, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. "The policemen injured were dedicated to protecting the mosque from any future attacks."
The car bomb damaged the outside of a school and other buildings in the immediate area. There was no damage to the Askira Mosque.
Two Iraqi policemen injured in the attack were transported to a coalition forces' medical facility for treatment.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
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